USCIS Releases Lists of Employers Enrolled in E-Verify Program

Posted by Dawn Lurie on April 02, 2012

United States Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) is very busy improving general E-Verify Outreach and Customer Service for employees and employees dealing with the intricacies of the Form I-9 process. We applaud them for their continued efforts on I-9 Central and for today's release detailing the 345,000+ employers enrolled in the E-Verify program, a web-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9 to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment eligibility. The lists of enrolled employers, including federal contractors, are now conveniently available on the E-Verify website.

"The E-Verify Employers and Federal Contractors Lists provide the business name, city, state and ZIP code used during registration with E-Verify. They also indicate which businesses are federal contractors and provide other information such as workforce size. Click here to see these lists" stated the USCIS web release.

We were very pleased to see that the USCIS offered caveats to be considering when searching these lists. Such caveats are critical when searching the lists for particular employers. Specifically, we do not recommend using the list to confirm or deny E-Verify participation of a particular employer. 

Caveats for reviewing the E-Verify Employers and Federal Contractors Lists:

  • The lists only includes employers and federal contractors who have self-reported that their company has five or more employees.
  • Not all business locations of an employer enrolled in E-Verify may be found on the lists. The absence of a business location does not mean or imply that the business operating at the unlisted location either is or is not enrolled in E-Verify.
  • Naming conventions used by employers may not be recognizable to the public. When an employer enrolls in E-Verify, the employer uses the legal name of the individual or business entity. In many cases, however, an employer may use a trade name for public business purposes.
  • E-Verify does not collect contract information.
  • The E-Verify Employers and Federal Contractors Lists will be updated on a quarterly basis and the current postings are include employers and federal contractors enrolled in E-Verify through March 15, 2012.

More on I-9 updates including a an analysis of the proposed new Form I-9 and ICE's recent worksite activity will be posted shortly.

Supreme Court's Decision in Kawashima v. Holder and the Hard-Learned Lessons of an Old Tax-Crime Conviction

Posted by Dawn Lurie on March 20, 2012

Small business owners who are green card holders should take note of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Kawashima v. Holder. The court ruled that making (or assisting in the making of) a false tax return is a crime "involv[ing] fraud or deceit," and is therefore an aggravated felony for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act -- making filing a false tax return a deportable offense. Read our recent GT Alert for more information.

EB-5 Breaking News: USCIS Issues Draft EB-5 Policy Memorandum

Posted by Dawn Lurie on November 09, 2011

 By: Dawn Lurie and Kate Kalmykov

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas invites stakeholders to review and comment on a draft policy memorandum (EB-5 AdjudicationsPolicy.pdf) on the EB-5 program. Greenberg Traurig, LLP will be submitting comments on behalf of our Regional Center clients and individual investors. GT attorneys attended the Director's teleconference and will be forwarding an Alert assessing the proposed guidance shortly. This memorandum is proof of Director Mayorkas' intensive focus to improve the EB-5 program is bearing fruit. Accordingly with improvements to the program we can expect more scrutiny and compliance monitoring on both the immigration and corporate securities side. Director Mayorkas stated that it is critical that the program ensures integrity and mentioned that any improprieties were already being referred to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange commission.

It is more critical than ever for Regional Centers to ensure broad compliance and establish procedures for vetting proposed investment projects in light of current federal regulations and changing USCIS guidance. It seems to us that many Regional Centers do not understand the importance of correctly preparing a securities offering and structuring EB-5 investment projects. As the program expands we can undoubtedly expect increased scrutiny not just from USCIS but from the SEC as well. Likewise, in our representation of regional centers other common areas where even the most experienced find themselves stumbiling include job-creation or job-preservation projections, TEA designation, investor exit strategy, investment return and reinvestment issues. The proposed memoranda touches on many of these issues and those active in the EB-5 arena should be prepared for changes.

 

USCIS Redesigns Employment Authorization Document - I-9 Effect

Posted by Dawn Lurie on October 27, 2011

On October 25, Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Alejandro Mayorkas announced the release of a redesigned Employment Authorization Document (EAD or Form I-766) and a redesigned N-560 Certificate of Citizenship. The new documents will be issued on an ongoing basis beginning, respectively, on October 25 and October 30. Our recent GT Alert discusses what employers and human resources professionals charged with completing the I-9 process for new hires, rehires and re-verification for existing employees need to know.